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Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Your home is an extension of you, and the aesthetic that you choose to
create within your house can say a lot about you, your personality and your
lifestyle. Therefore, it is no wonder that so many people take pride in
creating a beautiful home appearance, and designing an environment that any
possible guests would be delighted to come and stay in. As such, it is
important to think about all of the different aspects of the home, from the
colour combinations you use, to your attention to the smaller details. If you
are looking to create an elegant ambience within your home, then here are a few
simple tips for creating a sophisticated and inviting living environment.

Start with
the heart of the home

The kitchen is the base of operations within the home, where people
commune to cook, eat, talk and spend time together. Therefore, it is one of the
most frequented areas of the house, and it gets the most foot traffic. With
that in mind, if you are looking to create a centrepiece of elegance to set the
tone for the rest of your home, this would be the room to do it in. Making
simple changes to the kitchen design, from adding in wall details, to placing
old countertops with more modern ones, can make a huge difference to the feel
of the room. Alternatively, you might prefer to conduct a larger scale
refurbishment, and undergo a complete kitchen renovation. Whichever
way you go, think about the atmosphere you are trying to create within your
home: do you want a sleek, modern design, incorporating light, monochrome
colours? Or do you want an aesthetic of more traditional elegance, where darker
tones and repurposed woods are more commonly used?

Think about
the lighting

Homes are usually built with standard light
fittings which, while they provide the basic necessary light, do
nothing for the atmosphere within the home. If you have the time and resources
to alter the lighting within your home, then you can really start to create the
desired ambiance you are looking for. Adding spotlights around the edge of a
room will allow you to play with the balance of within the room, meaning you
can switch from playful shadows to having the room be as bright as daylight in
an instant. The addition of standing lamps, turned up wall lights, or under
cabinet lighting can also make for a great way to add different aspects of
light into the room.

Take care
in the details

Creating an elegant home design is about much more than your furniture
choices, and the textures and patterns you use on the walls and floors; the factor
that will really make your home stand out above all the rest is your attention
to detail. Think about how all of the items within a room work
together, and what impressions you get when you walk in: are there any obvious
flaws in your aesthetic? Then move onto smaller details, such as how to finish
off your look with soft furnishings, such as pillows, throws and drapes. If you
are planning on making bigger changes within a room, you can even go as far as
to change the type of crown moulding you have around the top edge of your walls.
Getting the right design for this can really pull a room together.

Friday, May 18, 2018

As the effects of climate change and global warming continue to become
more real, world is becoming more environmentally conscious and shifting
towards eco-friendly homes even as pressure mounts on industrial economies to
cut their emissions.

Making your home eco-friendly doesn’t require a lot of expenses or
turning your life upside down. You don’t have to buy fancy gadgets or tear down
your house. It simply involves limiting the impact your lifestyle has on the
environment and conserving energy for sustainability.

Not all light bulbs are the same. For the same amount of illumination,
incandescent bulbs consume 90% more electricity than LED bulbs. Worse even, the
incandescent bulbs also emit a lot heat which requires your home cooling system
to work longer further driving up your energy consumption.

Don’t leave the lights on when they are not in use, even for a short
duration. These small savings in energy consumption accumulate and make a
significant impact towards energy conservation.

On the same breath, switch off and unplug your electrical appliances
when you are not using them instead of leaving them on standby mode. There is
ghost consumption when you leave your appliances plugged in which contributes
to your total consumption.

Do not leave your water running either. Most people leave the water
running when brushing or washing and this results into a lot of wastage. Turn
off the tap when you do not need the water.

Heat management

You don’t have to freeze and risk your life to make your home more
eco-friendly. What you have to do is to find smart ways to maintain the
suitable temperatures you want in your home.

Thicker and brighter walls retain heat longer and you don’t even have to
call home improvement service for this. With simple wall papers and interior
décor, you can make home more heat retaining.

Make use of your windows during the day to regulate the interior
temperatures and only run the air conditioner when you have to.

More importantly, make sure you heating and cooling system are in the
best condition to minimize losses which would mean longer operating hours. You
can take the Hvac Training Us to equip you with the skills
you need for your DIY home repairs.

Landscaping

Landscaping improves the aesthetic appeal of your home but can also make
your home more eco-friendly.

While selecting the types of plants for your garden, go with the native
plants in your area which are better suited for your climate conditions thereby
reducing the need for you to constantly water and tend to them. Bringing in
exotic plants from elsewhere can some time lead to the death of native plants.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

With a new season on the horizon, now is
the perfect time to revamp the
appearance of your home, and in turn, make it more suitable for sun-drenched days of entertaining and
socializing. To revive the freshness of
your home, you don’t need to have a whole new bathroom fitted or to knock down
a wall to create a kitchen-diner. Instead,
a brand new feel is more readily
achieved by changing the position of furniture and replacing worn and torn furnishings
like rugs, carpets, and sofa cushions in favour
of light, colourful ones. You can renew the look of your homein just a few easy steps, so begin making a list of
items that you’d like to buy and display, and ones that aren’t currently
fulfilling their purpose.

Replace Drapes With Shutters

With the days
getting longer and lighter, replace
heavy drapes with tidy light-coloured
shutters or blinds. Blinds can provide plenty of privacy, and you’ll also be
able to control the level of brightness each room receives by adjusting how they
cleverly filter daylight. This control allows you to create a relaxed, private
feel by adjusting the filter, and open
them completely when you want to illuminate a room and flood it with natural
sunlight. Going one step further, consider changing the window panes and frames
to ones of a classic, stylish sash design. You can achieve this by visiting timberwindows-direct.co.uk and looking into getting made-to-measure
windows complete with windowsills.

New Coat Of Paint

Unless you want
to completely alter how rooms in your house feel in terms of warmth and character, you should stick to repainting
them in the same, or a similar colour, as they were before. By simply adding
a new coat of paint, you can instantly freshen up the appearance of tired or stained walls. You can improve the look of your home
by making other visible surfaces, such as the floor and ceiling, appear clean
and free from dirt, grime, and dust.

Add Plants

Spruce up the
place by adding a beautiful plant in each room, and don’t forget to add some
greenery to the bathroom. For the bathroom, you
could choose the Aloe Vera plant which reduces indoor humidity, and as a result, it is
very useful in rooms where moisture builds up. Before adding your potted plants, if your surfaces look a little dusty
and uncared for, then wash them down thoroughly. Vases of colourfulflowers in bloom can cheer up a space, so think about getting some long-stemmed flowers such as roses or lilies,
and arranging them in a tall clear vase for a stylish aesthetic.

Declutter

Have a
meticulous spring clean to remove any grubbiness that’s accumulated. When
you’re doing this, try and avoid using harsh chemicals that aren’t
environmentally friendly. Instead, you can use lemon juice, baking soda, and
white vinegar for deep-cleaning fabrics, cookware and glass. Do this alongside
clearing out mess, clutter, and possessions that no longer serve a purpose in
your home. Replace old trinkets and decorations with new ones, or decide to
keep surfaces clear and tidy by removing them completely.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

It’s important to provide your children with a safe
space both during and after the decorating process. You therefore need to
invest in the right furniture, paint and layout to create a beautiful home
without compromising on your children’s health and happiness. Here are five
must-read tips for a family-friendly interior design.

1. Buy
Durable Fabrics

Are you planning to buy fabrics for the home? The
more durable, the better when living with children. It doesn’t matter if you’re
buying a fabric sofa or drapes, you will want upholstery that will stand the
test of time when raising kids. To identify if a material is durable, simply
run your fingers along the fabric. The more noise it creates, the more durable the
upholstery will be, meaning it will require less maintenance. Stain-proof, low maintenance materials often include leather, pleather, wool, twill, and felt.

2. Child-Safe
Paint

Regardless of whether you are painting your child’s
bedroom, embarking on a creative project with your kids, or restoring an
antique, you will want to provide your son or daughter with a safe environment.
For this reason, you should click here to find eco friendly paint for kids projects or an
interior design project, as it will be non-toxic, so is great for your children
and planet Earth. Unlike with other paints, you will not need to worry about
harmful chemicals damaging your child’s health.

3. Accessorize
Out of a Child’s Reach

You do not need to compromise on style when living
with children. You simply need to make a few adjustments to your interior
design. For instance, you should always accessorize with items that are out of
a child’s reach. Add candles, frames, and pewter bowls at the top of a bookcase
or shelf they cannot access. You should also ensure the items are immovable
when at a height to avoid an injury.

4. Invest
in the Right Flooring

Parents will have a million and one tasks to juggle
within the home, which is why you will want to select something that’s
effortlessly stylish and easy to clean. You will also want to avoid slip and
trip hazards within the home. Carpet can therefore be a great choice,
especially if your baby is starting to crawl or is a little unsteady on their
feet. However, you might want to pull up the carpet as they grow older and
replace it with a hardwood floor, as carpet can be unforgiving when children
start handling their own food. Consider a rustic, pre-distressed hardwood floor
in a medium to dark tone, which can be forgiving in a family home.

5. Use
Different Storage Options

Living with children means picking up an endless
array of toys and clothing off the floor. Not only can this make your home
appear cluttered and unkempt, but loose items can also be a trip hazard.
Declutter the space by buying various storage products to maintain a clean, clutter-free, safe
space for your children. For example, you can add their toys and books into
attractive boxes on open shelves, or you could store board games and shoes in
an antique chest.

Running a business from home is a truly
rewarding experience. You get to work from your comfortable space and there
will be no paying rent or commute expenses. Additionally, you get enough time
to take care of your family. However, having your work tools and materials at
home will take up some of your living space. If you don’t organize well, your
house may soon turn out to be a little messy. Additionally, children can mess
up your work files or products, giving you a headache. To ensure this doesn’t
happen, consider the following home organization tips.

Choose a Specific Work and Storage Space

While you can work from different spaces, it
is essential to have one storage space for your work documents, raw materials,
and finished products. This will ensure that your stuff is not scattered around
the house. You can choose a specific room in the house, part of a room, the
garage or even the basement as your work and storage space. At times, you can
work from the living room or outside, but once you are done, bring back your
stuff to your dedicated workspace to keep
the house tidy.

Storage Containers for Home Organizing

Investing in storage containers, boxes, and baskets for home
organizing will help to keep the
house tidy. If you are dealing with more than one item, consider having a
different container for each. Ensure that the boxes are labeled to avoid confusion and time wastage. For the important
documents, you could have a lockable cabinet with a number of drawers. Lost or
damaged documents could result in lost sales, so keep products safe.

You could also have some small portable
containers for carrying around materials when you want to work outside your
dedicated space.

Protect Your Floors and Surfaces

When you are working from other parts of
the house, ensure that you protect your floor and other surfaces. For instance,
if you run a T-shirt business, consider placing a protective mat between the T Shirt Maker Machine and the surface. Alternatively,
you could have a special table made for your machines. This will help in
preserving your floors and surfaces and keeping them stain free. Stains can
take time to clear and this makes your house look untidy.

Clean up When You Are Done

When you are done working, clean up and put
everything back in the dedicated storage space. Don’t leave things lying around,
as this not only makes your house untidy but could also cause injuries to your kids and pets.

Self Storage and Outsourcing

Most small businesses that start from home
end up expanding with time. Therefore, when that time comes for you and your space
becomes too small to handle the boxes, consider moving some to self-storage facilities. Outsourcing packing
and fulfillment can also help in keeping
your home tidy. Outsourcing can also give you more time to focus on marketing
and sourcing new ideas for your business.

Working
from home gives you convenience but do your best to ensure that it doesn’t
interfere with the beauty and safety of your house. Keep everything organized
and when the business expands, consider seeking storage elsewhere.

About Me

I started AM Dolce Vita to document the renovation and redesign of our custom built home. A software sales executive by profession, a design blogger by hobby, a self-confessed serial decorator, an avid traveler, photographer and gardener, a daughter and a wife, don't we all wear multiple hats? I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do. If you have any question please do not hesitate to reach me at amdolcevita88 (at) gmail (dot) com.